Noida: UP Yoddhas are aiming to start the new year with a win as they host Patna Pirates in Match 52 of the Pro Kabaddi League Season 10 which will be held at the Noida Indoor Stadium here on Monday.
This is the third match for the GMR Group-owned Yoddhas’ home leg and the team hopes to kick off the New Year with a win after going down to Dabang Delhi KC 25-35 on Friday.
The home side are currently on ninth position in the table with 20 points while Patna Pirates who beat Haryana Steelers 46-33 in their previous encounter are seventh on the table with 22 points.
The match is poised to be a battle between the best defenses in the league. Both teams are leading the league for the most tackle points with the Yoddhas scoring 322 and Pirates with 313 points.
The defensive trio of Sumit, Nitesh Kumar and Gurdeep have combined well scoring 29, 25 and 22 points respectively and will be crucial in stopping the Pirates raiders.
The Patna Pirates will rely on their all-rounders Sachin and M. Sudhakar who have been performing well consistently in both the raiding and defence departments.
Statistically, in the history of the Pro Kabaddi League, both teams have faced each other 13 times. The Yoddhas have had the upper hand over the Pirates five times, while one match resulted in a tie. UP Yoddhas edged out the Pirates 35-33 in their latest meeting in the last season
Speaking before the Match UP Yoddhas Head Coach Jasveer Singh said, “We want to start the New Year on a positive note in front of our home fans. We will look to avoid small mistakes that are costing us games. The team atmosphere is good and we hope that it will transform into positive results in tomorrow’s game”.
For UP Yoddhas, Surender Gill has been in sensational form taking the bulk of the responsibility in the raiding department. He currently has the most raid points (86) and the most successful raids (64) in the league. Captain Pardeep Narwal has 60 raid points in the season and will look to help the team in the attacking department.
–IANS